The Thought That Counts
by thatlittlegoodgirl
Summary: It has been almost 5 years since the Great War, the war that clear Earth of all evil, and everyone is settling down, getting married and having children. No one is a kid anymore. I'm horrible with summaries the story is way better .Will eventually contain all major characters and cannon pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- This story is dedicated to my friend Maggie. Sorry for dragging you down on this sinking ship of Malec feels. Hope this makes it up to you.**

**It might be a little slow in the beginning but it will get good. don't own any characters accept for my couple OCs (some won't show up for a while.) Enjoy and reviews are always nice.**

* * *

**Chapter One-**

Alec woke up slowly and groggily like he always did on a normal morning, of course a normal night for Magnus and Alec was going to sleep at three in the morning. He gradually rolled onto his side and expected the warm mass that was his husband, when he found no Magnus Alec then detangled himself from the heap of blankets and sat up, looking over to the seldom used alarm clock. The Shadowhunter saw 10:30 in bright red block letters and let out a small groan.

"Guess I'm not going back to sleep now." He mumbled, tentatively getting out of the warm bed.

He then quickly headed toward the master bathroom that was luckily attached to the bedroom he shared with Magnus and on the way he remembered to stop at the closet and get a clean towel. Once in the bathroom he turned the shower on, making sure the hot water was turned all the way up. While waiting for the water to heat up, he hastily brushed his teeth wanting to get the horrible morning breath out of his mouth. After a couple more minutes, Alec noticed the mirror starting to fog up so the young Shadowhunter striped out of his boxers and placed his favorite towel on one of the many towel hooks, before jumping into the hot water.

Unlike Magnus, who sometimes preferred to take baths that lasted for hours on end, Alec liked to take showers that were on the longer side but not by much. The only reason Alec considered his showers long was because sometimes he would get caught up thinking and not realizing how long he had been taking.

One time, while walking though Central Park on his way to meeting Izzy, he heard two mundanes saying they thought best in the shower, and that was one of the few things he could actually agree with. As soon as Alec got under the hot water he made a mental note to try and get back to waking up like he used to. Before he moved in with Magnus, while still living in the Institute, he and his siblings were trained to wake up early and to be alert as soon as they were up. Unfortunately, ever since dating Magnus, especially since marring Magnus, Alec started to get lazy about waking up in the morning.

But it's not like it really mattered anymore, after the Great War the 'Gang', which is what Simon often referred to everyone as, was given special metals and 'honorably discharged of all duties', of course by that Clave meant 'Please stop getting into trouble, look where this has gotten us.'. Everyone was still included in searches and small demon fights, but they were getting rarer and rarer. And since they were all older they didn't need to train anymore, so it made sense that Alec could sleep in later and be slower to get up every morning.

He then just let his mind wander from thought to thought, unconsciously washing his body and hair.

"Honey, are you OK? You've been in the awfully long."Hearing Magnus's voice woke Alec up out of his thinking-stupor.

"Yeah, I'm fine I was just thinking."

"OK, just making sure. When you get finished in there I'll be in the kitchen finishing up making breakfast."

"Thanks, I'll be out in a minute."

On that he rinsed off again to make sure he got all the suds off, turned off the cooling water, wrapped the towel around his hips, and exited the bathroom.

* * *

Magnus carefully slid out of his husbands grasp and got out of bed. Normally if he woke up before Alec he would just lay there listening to the steady breathing of his partner before nodding back off to sleep. Today was different though, he need time to think. After getting out of bed, he quietly walked across the hall to the study. If he was lucky Magnus could get about two hours of alone time before Alec would notice that he was missing. There was two things pressing on his mind and both were rapidly approaching.

First on the list- Alec's birthday, but Alec was Alec and didn't like to have giant birthday parties, and really didn't like when people spent money on him. His usual birthday's consisted going to Taki's for dinner, heading back to the Institute to hang out with the 'Gang' afterward, and then opening presents and getting slightly intoxicated.

Simon. The little nerd. Always thinking of nicknames for everything. What would we do without him? But since he's still a Vampire and Vampires aren't allowed into hallowed ground like the Institute, Izzy would always run off with Simon after Alec would open the present from her. At least she would return before everyone leaves so they can spend some quality brother-sister time together. Even Maia and Jordan would try to show up for a bit, though it was hard when you're both Werewolves and had a young child.

Another reason why it was so hard to do anything for Alec's birthday was mostly Magnus's fault. Not that he did anything bad, in fact if you asked Alec he would say that his twentieth birthday was his favorite. That was because on Alec's twentieth birthday Magnus proposed. Instead of being handed a box that would have contained a new scarf or sweater, Magnus handed him a ring box. So now every year when he would try to give Alec something, he would politely refuse and say things like 'You're the best present I could ever get.' and 'When I'm with you, I couldn't ask for anything else.', and Magnus personal favorite 'You're my everything, so why would I want more?'.

This year was going to be different, it had to be.

The other pressing matter was their anniversary, which was only a few weeks after Alec's birthday. This event was smaller and much more intimate, consisting of a romantic dinner, their favorite wine, and a bunch candles. But again Magnus wanted to do something special. It's not like being married for five years happens all the time, especially for a Shadowhunter. You never know when a battle could be your last. The best way to deal with both, he decided was to combine the two, but that meant Magnus was going to have to do something big, something that could last a lifetime.

Big was one thing but a life time was another. His immortality didn't help either.

He thought about calling Clary and even was about to press the call button but then decided against it. Clary and Jace had been back from their Honeymoon for a little over a week and already Clary's half brother, Noah, was demanding her attention, so currently he was sleeping over at the Institute. Magnus didn't know how Clary was managing to control both Noah and Jace, who both could be pain in the butts; he figured she would need her beauty sleep.

About that time Magnus heard the shower turn on which signaled that Alec was up. Figuring he still had a few days to find the perfect present for Alec, he went into the kitchen to start on breakfast, placing the thoughts in the back of his mind for the time being.

Cooking was considered mundane and domestic to most Downworlders Magnus on the other hand, enjoyed task because he loved it when his partner's face would light up at seeing stacks of pancakes, fresh squeezed juices, and scrambled eggs. After over half an hour of cooking breakfast, waffles this time instead of pancakes, Magnus noticed the water was still running. It was strange that he would have been in there that long. Just to make sure that his husband hadn't fallen asleep while washing his hair, the Warlock padded back into the master bedroom.

He could hear the water running but not steam was coming out from underneath the door. Magnus walked over to the bathroom door and placed his hand against the doorframe to prop himself up, still a bit drowsy from the lack of sleep.

"Honey, are you OK? You've been in the awfully long."

He could hear movement coming from inside which at least Alec hadn't fallen asleep

"Yeah, I'm fine I was just thinking."

"OK, just making sure. When you get finished in there I'll be in the kitchen finishing up making breakfast." Before leaving the room Magnus walked over the joint closet and laid an outfit for his husband on the bed.

"Thanks, I'll be out in a minute."

Magnus headed back to the kitchen to place the finishing touches on breakfast and as promised, a minute later, Alec entered with freshly tousled hair, wearing the dark gray sweater and jeans that Magnus had picked out.

"Good morning, Love."

"Yeah, yeah good morning to you too Magnus."

Alec stepped around the counter and placed a gentle kiss on the Warlock's cheek, but at the same time he stole the waffle that Magnus had just gotten out of the waffle iron.

"Hey that one was mine." Alec knew he was only joking.

"I know that's why I took it." He said in the same playful manner.

Once all the food was moved to the table that Magnus had conjured up and the couple was contently eating, did Magnus bother to continue that conversation.

"Do you have anything in mind that you want to do today?" Magnus asked.

Alec shook his head. "No, why do you?"

"I thought we could stop by and see Clary and Jace at the Institute."

"That would be nice, I guess." Even thought he sounded disappointed, he knew that Alec was excited about seeing his brother and now sister-in-law. That was just one of the many things that made Alec, Alec.

"And if I'm not mistaken I think Noah is there too."

"Really? That's nice." The uncaring tone was still there but Magnus caught the faint spark of excitement in the blue eyes he fell in love with. "When do you think we can leave?"

For some odd reason Alec loved Noah. Not that everyone didn't love him he was just a hand full, whenever they were around each other, though, Alec always managed to contain him until Luke or Jocelyn came to pick him up or someone dropped him off at one of his friends' houses.

Come to think about it, the Shadowhunter sitting in front of him was go with every young child he has known: his late brother, Max, his technical brother-in-law, Noah, even Maia and Jordan's daughter Olivia.

Then it hit him. The perfect gift. A child. Making Alec a father. Of course it would be a bit complicated for them, but Magnus knew the perfect person to call in this situation.

"Did you hear me. I asked when we are leaving."Alec asked. The Warlock looked up to see his husband giving him a concerned look."Magnus, Honey, what's wrong? You look sick."

"Umm, nothing I just thought of something."

"Whatever you say." Oh Alec. If only you knew. "Now are you ever going to answer me?"

"Yes. If you're done I'll take your plate and then I'll call Clary and ask what time would be the best. But I don't think we'll go over there till later this afternoon anyway. In the mean time, though I think some shopping is in order. I need some more skinny jeans."

"Yeah, sure, whatever, I'll be in the study. Come and get me whenever you what to leave." Alec rolled his eyes and left.

Magnus stood up and clear all the plate while Alec walked across to where the study was located. When the door was closed Magnus used his Warlock 'mojo' to clean up the rest of the mess from breakfast. The second everything was clean he pulled out his phone to call two people- Clary and a friend that could help give Alec the present he deserved.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- Sorry this is really late. Life happened.**

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Magnus grabbed his phone off the bedside table and sat down at the foot of the bed. He scrolled through the many contacts, looking for one that hadn't been use in a very long time. After pressing the green call button, he waited for someone to pick up the phone. The phone rang a couple of times, and then Magnus heard a familiar voice answer.

"_Hallo, this is Claramae. And since you called my private phone I'm guessing you're either a Shadowhunter or a Downworlder and you need my help. So state your problem."_ Even though she spoke in English, Claramae still had a slight German accent.

"Hi Mae, its Magnus."

"_Magnus? Wow, when was the last time we talked?"_

"I think it was when I still had my rotary phone, but never mind, how are you doing?"

"_Good, I guess, surviving. There was an outbreak of Demon-pox in __Oschersleben that I got called in for. Now I'm in Munich. What about you? Do anything fun?"_

"Well, if you consider all most dying a couple times, saving the world, and getting married fun. Then, yeah I had tons. I mean getting married really was fun and all, you know how it is." Magnus was trying to be sarcastic but he knew he was failing miserably.

"_You? Married? Now that's interesting__. Who's the lucky girl?"_

"The lucky guy actually. His name is Alexander Lightwood." All he wanted to do was tell Claramae that he needed a surrogate, hang up without further discussion, and let her handle everything. After all she was a lifelong friend, and trusted colleague, plus she was considered an expert in her field of magic. Where Magnus specialized in summonings, bindings, and things of that nature, Claramae specialized in mass demonic plague outbreaks, pre-natal and neo-natal services for Shadowhunters and Downworlders.

By this time he was getting nervous, and it was very unlike him to get nervous. It didn't help that he was going to have to ask for help. Magnus had always done things by himself and then, after a while, he finally allowed Alec and his friends to periodically lend their assistant. Unfortunately, this time around, he was going to have to fully depend on his old friend and if anything went wrong he wasn't going to know how to fix it. And that scared him a little. Not that he wanted to admit it.

_"Wait, so you're telling me not only did you marry a _mortal_, you married a Shadowhunter? And not just any Shadowhunter, you had to marry yourself a Lightwood? A Lightwood? Really? And he's an extremely famous war hero too. Did you not realize that? Never mind, as long you're both happy I guess that's all that counts."_

Some where in the middle on listening to Claramae's little rant, Magnus had sprawled himself across the bed, staring impatiently at the ceiling.

"If you haven't noticed, I'm a pretty famous war hero too, but that's not why I called."

_"I figured. You're not a 'just because' kind of person. What do you need? Speak." _

Magnus took a deep breath and sat up "I need a baby; well I mean, I need someone to be a surrogate so I can get a baby."

_"Why didn't you just ask in the first place? That is included in my specialties you know. But if you don't mind me asking, why do you want a child? I never would have pinned you as the fatherly type."_

"Well, it's not exactly for me. Alec's birthday is coming soon and then our anniversary shortly after that. I wanted this year to be different. I want a bit of a challenge. I've also seen the way Alec changes when he's around our friends' young children. And even though I don't think I would be the best parent given my daddy issues, Alec would be an amazing father. I know we would be able overcome every problem that would come our way." Even though Magnus meant every word he said, he thought it sounded a bit weird coming from his mouth. At least he was starting to relax.

"_So you really do love him."_ Claramae sounded like she was trying to hold back tears, like her two favorite book characters just told one another other that they loved each other.

"Yeah, I really do." Magnus sat back up and tucked his feet underneath him. "So can you help me?"

_"Of course I can. And today is your lucky day, Magnus. Since you're such an amazing friend, and have help me on numerous occasions, I'll move you to the top of the list and pick out the perfect match myself instead of letting one of the people I have working for me."_

He could feel his stomach flutter with happiness._ "_You have no idea how much this means to me, Mae."

_"Please don't call me Mae or I'll pick the worse possible candidate for you." _Magnus let out a small laugh._ "I'll start narrowing down the list of women right away, but we have a very long list. So give me at least a week. One month tops."_

Magnus heard the faint creak of the study door being opened and then closed.

He needed to wrap the conversation up "Thanks, Claramae.I have to go"

"_Yeah, OK, goodbye. When I find the perfect match I'll text you, and then fire message you the files." _

"Oh and one more thing- please don't mention anything to Alec. I want it to be-." Magnus hung up before he could finish since Alec walked into the bedroom.

"Well don't stop on my account."

"Oh, it was just a… client."

Alec nodded in understanding. "Have you called Clary?"

"Doing that right now." Magnus used Clary's speed dial.

* * *

Alec left the room after a moment and during his short conversation with Clary, Magnus thought of how his wish was one step closer to becoming true.

After Alec left his husband in their shared bedroom, he went into the kitchen to make himself a cup of caffeinated tea. He always thought coffee was a bit bitter even when it had milk or cream in it, so he tended to only drink it early in the morning or late at night. Even when the tea was caffeinated he found it calming. Alec contributed his tea loving to his British ancestors. When the tea had finished brewing, he sat down on the overstuffed leather couch in the living room, and stared at his feet, which were on top of the coffee table. Alec sat there, gaze holding, listing to the low mumblings that were filling the apartment. He took long, slow sips from his favorite mug, finally looking up when he heard the faint creak of a door being opened.

"What did she say?" Alec asked with another sip.

Magnus crossed the room and sat down next to him "Clary was happy when I called and said we were welcomed to come anytime we wanted, but if we wanted to see Noah for a bit- I figured you did- we need to come before lunch because that's when Luke was coming with Maggie to pick Noah up to take them shopping or something like that. I thought we could leave now if you wanted."

Alec held his mug up. "As soon as I finish this."

"Sure."

Careful as to not spill anything, Alec leaned back and sat in Magnus's lap, intertwining their legs. "You said Maggie was coming with Luke?"

"Yep, I thought you would've wanted to see her again too."

"Yeah, she's one of the sweetest girls I know."

And it was true; she was very polite for her age. Cute, with pretty, hazel eyes and short, wavy blonde hair. She was also Noah's best friend and half werewolf too. Her life was consider good now, but from what Alec knew it hadn't always been. From what everyone gathered, she was most likely the result of a one night stand turned accident. When Maggie's mother realized her new born daughter was a werewolf, she abandoned her in an ally where two of Luke's men found her on their routine patrols.

They found her wrapped up in a blanket that had her name embroidered along the edge, and a letter telling the baby girl's first and middle name, age, and explaining to the person that found her why she was abandoned. Everyone agreed it was a miracle that they found her before a random Good Samaritan or something worse discovered Maggie in that ally. Luke's recently promoted third in-command, Taylor, was one of the patrolmen to find her. He adopted Maggie and now she lives with him and his girlfriend at the police station. And ever since the day Maggie was in the same room as Noah, they have inseparable. Not to mention the fact they shared the same birthday, only a year apart. It made them feel like they had something that no one else had.

Maggie is still too young to know the full details, although she does know that she is adopted. She's happy about her situation though and doesn't care that Taylor isn't her real father, so nothing else matters. Alec can see Maggie and Noah marring each other one day, but since they're only five and six, he has a long wait to find out if he's right.

Alec took one last drink from his mug

"OK, I'm done. We can go now." Alec popped up off the couch and put his cup in the sink to be clean later. He hurried to the bedroom to slip on his shoes, with Magnus following close behind him. On the way to the door, Alec got their cell phones, a set of keys, and his Steele from kitchen. Magnus grabbed them both a light jacket's since it was unusually chilly for early August.

They locked the apartment door, walked down the multiple flights for stairs, and stepped out into the midmorning Brooklyn air. Magnus suggested they walk, and Alec happily agreed knowing the Institute wasn't that far of a walk. Hopefully some of the foot traffic would be down because of the odd time. The couple strolled down the sidewalk in a comfortable silence. Alec didn't bother with using Runes; he liked showing everyone his love for Magnus. Everyone in the New York area minded their own business anyway, so it wasn't like he was going to be getting any strange looks.

"So Magnus, have you gotten me anything for my birthday yet?"

"Umm, well, I guess you could say I know what I getting you, but I don't fully have everything together. And when you do get my present, you might not actually get it until a couple months later." Magnus said trying to not give anything away.

"So much for a clue. Can you at least tell me if it's going to be covered in glitter, rainbow-y, frilly, or anything like your closet?"

Alec could see Magnus running through different thoughts in his mind. After a moment he replied, "Not if you don't want it to."

Magnus made it sound like he was going to give him a doll or something that he could dress up in different outfits, better yet a baby that he could dress up, but that was a silly idea. He knew Magnus wasn't exactly keen on having children, but since they never really talked about it, he didn't know for sure. His best guess a new cat. Chairman Meow was looking a bit lonely lately.

He narrowed his eyes in a playful manner and gave a quick smirk. "If you say so."

By then they were outside the gate and Magnus leaned down to give him a short, almost chaste kiss on his lips. They opened the gate and heard the loud bang of the heavy wooden doors being thrown open.

"Magnus! Alec! I didn't know you guys were coming!" Noah yelled and ran the distant to where they had been standing.

Alec ruffled his hair then lifted Noah up off the ground. "Hey bud, how are you?"

"Good I guess, but Clary wouldn't let me stay up late with Jace last night to see those really cool flowers on the roof that only bloom at midnight."

Magnus and Alec started to walk again but this time with Noah in tow.

Magnus patted him on the back. "Don't worry. I know Jace. And if he wants you to see those flowers, he'll find a way."

"Yes, Jace always finds a way." Alec said thinking of his brother's stubbornness.

"Jace will find a way to do what?" The three of them shared a knowing look when Clary stepped out behind the door. "You boys better not be getting my husband in trouble. He has already has a hard enough time without you guys' help."

They all laughed, silently agreeing, and headed to the elevator.

* * *

The elevator ride was short, but the whole time Noah was rambling on about a project that he was working on at school that he and Alec had to see before Luke picked him up. So then as soon as the doors dinged open Noah wriggled out of Alec's arms and started to pull him in the direction of the room he was staying in. Magnus promised to be there as soon as he could he just wanted to talk to Clary and Jace for a moment.

While Church was leading Magnus and Clary the dimly lit hallway that lead to the library, Magnus notice that Clary looked even more like her mother, even though he saw her only a couple weeks ago. He guessed that marriage really can change people, even in appearances.

"How was the Honeymoon?" Magnus asked. "I heard you took a private tour around Europe."

"It was amazing and very…umm…romantic, if you know what I mean. Jace planned the whole thing without me knowing." Clary had a faint blush on her cheeks. "We even thought about extending the trip for a few more weeks, but apparently Noah missed his big sis too much and demanded that we come back. And you know he loves Jace just as much as me, so we came back. Not that we didn't mind. Jace and I were both starting to get home stick anyway."

"I know what you mean. If we had more time we would have definitely taken more time off. But High Warlocks like me can't really take extra time off, much like running the Institute. Oh, were you doing something?" Magnus asked noticing all the books and papers scattered across the giant desk on the library.

"I was just finishing up so research for the Institute in Los Angeles."

"I don't want to keep you from it then." Magnus started back out the library doors. "In fact I wanted to talk to Jace for a bit. You know brother-in-law to brother-in-law."

"The last time I saw him he was keeping Noah occupied by teaching him piano in the music room. But during the lesson I guess he saw you and Alec out the window because he ran off after that. So you might want to check there first." Clary sat down at the desk and was reviewing something on an old sheet of parchment.

Magnus walk over to Clary and placed a quick kiss on the top of her head. "Thanks, and don't worry, we'll keep Noah out of the way so you can finish up."

While he was following Church down the hallway he heard Clary shout, "If I ever if out what you wanted Jace to do, I'll steal all your glitter."

He couldn't help but laugh.

After a few minutes of walking in silent hallways Magnus heard sounds of the piano growing louder and louder.

Magnus leaned against the doorway "I've always admired your ability to play like that."

"I think it's a little thing called practice." Jace said sarcastically.

"Don't get cocky." Warned Magnus.

"Always." He stood up to give Magnus a quick brotherly hug. "I hope you're treating Alec well. You know I can still your butt."

"Alec is actually the reason I came to talk to you. I wanted to ask your opinion and then ask for a kind of your blessing."

"Shoot."

"Well, as sort of a combined birthday and anniversary present I was going to get a woman to be a surrogate for us so we could have kids and I was wondering if you thought it was a good idea since you might even know Alec better than me." He said it fast in one breath. Magnus realize that explaining that was probably never going to get any easier.

"First- If anyone knows Alec the best it's you, even though I am his brother." Magnus knew he was just trying to calm the tense air around them and it started to work. "Second- I think it's an amazing idea, both you and Alec would be amazing parents. And let me say you the trouble- Yes, you have my blessing, even though you don't really need it."

"Thank you, Jace, and please don't tell anyone, not Clary, not Izzy, not even your mother. I promise to keep you in loop when things develop."

"Yeah, anything to make my brother happy."

The men left the music room and stopped by the library again to check up on Clary, they then headed towards Noah's room, from where they could hear Alec's laugher ringing down the corridor.

"What are you boys up to now?" Jace asked entering the room.

Alec had a huge grin plastered on his face. "Noah was just showing me the miniature catapult that he and Luke were building together." He looked down at the floor. "We might have also been launching army men into the trash can with it."

"You guys can join us if you want." Noah scooted over to let Magnus and Jace sit down.

The four of them stay in the floor, launching the little green men across the room until Clary said it was time to eat lunch and that Luke was on his way. She rounded them all up and herded them towards the kitchen. When Alec wasn't looking Jace gave Magnus a smile and a quick nod, reassuring him that he made the right choice. Luke and Maggie came while they were finishing up with their sandwiches. With permission from Luke, the children ran off back to Noah's room. Probably to play with the launcher some more before they had to leave

While the kids were gone the adults caught up with each other. Luke telling them about some of the new members of the pack. Clary and Jace shared funny stories about what happen while they were away. And for once Magnus didn't worry about the future, he listened to the stories, laughed when it was funny, gave a dramatic gasp here and there, and focused on the here and now, which he did have to admit was pretty good.

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**Reviews would be really nice**


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